I don't want to cause trouble or post something that could possibly be harmful to someone, but I received this letter forwarded to me from three separate people last evening and plan to verify the facts stated in the article. Rather than go to a forum with a private, members only area to bash this rescue, I asked Michelle if I could post it here...I really only want to see if anyone knows in fact if the information is true, and also since this is an open forum, people who might be a member of the other rescue would be able to come here and speak about this. I find this quite disturbing and hope that it is not true, but I suspect everything might be true.

You may or may not know who we are, depending on how long you have been here. We only ask that you consider this a public service announcement, of sorts.

Many of us have been banned or left, for various reasons that really, all boil down to one- you will know what that one thing is when you are done reading this.

SPBR is not a 501c3. They are merely registered as a corporation with New York State, and that is only since October 2007. This means nothing more than that, and the fact that Eric Gray cannot have any personal assets touched if he is sued over something ‘rescue’ related. SPBR has not been granted 501c3 status by the federal government. You can call and question them on this.Stop. Ask yourself this now, he is an attorney, so WHY is it taking so long for him to obtain his non-profit status from the federal government? Money isn’t the issue, so what is? The IRS has to approve you for the status. Why hasn’t he been approved?

Sparkles, who is still in foster, had a litter of 10 pups when she came to Eric. By the time he was done with them, five of her litter had died without ever seeing a vet. Five pups, the oldest was approximately 7-8 weeks when she/he died. Dogs this old do not just “lose the will to live” as he would have you believe. This dog died without ever seeing a vet.In December, the SPCA showed up at his house due to complaints. He would have you believe that it was animal control. No, it was the SPCA of Erie County, and they do have him under investigation, still. Feel free to call them and ask. 716-873-7722. He refused them entry, and immediately went into dump mode. There were at least 17 dogs in his basement while he refused them entry. Several were dumped in foster homes, several back in shelters. Many of those who took the dogs said they were filthy, emaciated, worm-riddled, sad. They were stained with urine. Two of them, Chi-Chi and Lox were admitted to having bite history’s in the mod corner. Denied to those taking them.Lady was dumped, much thinner than when she arrived at his house. As her vet records show, he knew she was in need of a second heartworm treatment that he never gave her. Fifty dollars. She also had hookworm. Neither were treated while with him.Nicala, with a history of killing a cat. Eric never told her emergency foster of this. shortly thereafter, her cat was killed by Nicala. Eric blamed the foster.He does not give rabies vaccinations, which is REQUIRED by NYS law for dogs older than 3 months. He sends dogs home without health certs to cross state lines. He won’t get in trouble for that, the receiving party will!

There are dogs that have died in his care, never to be heard about again, no explanation given. Instead, they are buried in a mass grave on his three acres. The fawn Titan, dead last May. His own ‘beloved’ Spud. Dead. Not a word. The numerous puppies….. where? Why?This ‘rescue’ has plenty of DNA/DNR orders in numerous states. Stop and ask yourself this, why doesn’t he pull locally? What about from CT, MD, PA, MA, AR?

This is not a twist on the facts because we are “poisoned” and “spewing our venom” as you would have him believe. We are people who worked for the dogs, fought for the dogs, and will continue to fight for the dogs. We have seen it first hand. Sadly, all of it is real. Trust nothing. Question everything. Make the calls yourself. Find the truth.stopbadrescuesnow@yahoo.com

"If I were not a man, I would like to be a bird. As I am a man, I do the next best thing, and ride a bicycle." -- Rev. Maltie, a cyclist in the late 1800s

Fair warning to EVERYONE -- this thread is NOT going to turn into a raging bash-fest. If you can confirm the information in this email, feel free to post. If you would like to dispute the information in this email, do so rationally and offer up proof.

There will be NO name calling and anyone who cannot behave like an adult will not be allowed to post.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

I also received the same email and quite a few other emails from this person. I plan to make a few calls myself and would be extremely interested in people (if they can) verifying or disputing anything listed in this message.

the number for erie spca is NO GOOD!!! (716-873-7722)the GOOD number is 716-875-7360, you will need to tell them what county this is for.....then they will redirect you.......and you will possibly get a number for Charles Buren (716-609-2416)

I left a message

"If I were not a man, I would like to be a bird. As I am a man, I do the next best thing, and ride a bicycle." -- Rev. Maltie, a cyclist in the late 1800s

I was a moderator and volunteer with this "rescue". I was completely naive and thought all the so-called internet rumors weren't true or exaggerated. I was hearing things from people that weren't directly involved, so I needed to find out for myself what was going on. I had a good adoption experience there, so I had a hard time with some of the accusations.

Up until I received a foster dog from him and saw the conditions the dog came to ME in, I had no reason to NOT believe his side. I still wanted to help the dogs, and that was always my intentions...but I had an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was being used and lied to. Finally, when he claimed that AC came to his home, (when in FACT it was the SPCA) and then started a huge mission to DUMP dogs that were in his care, that is when I barfed up my kool-aid.

The entire story about Nicala is true. He dumped her with a foster who had a cat, Nicala had a history of killing a cat prior to coming to spbr. The foster had a cat in her home, and was completely unaware of the dog's history. I confronted him on this and immediately let the foster home know that she needed to be careful. My posts to her were deleted, and I was told that I needed to back off. After being banned, I found out, from the foster mom, that Nicala killed her cat. Nicala was a crate escaper, she destroyed one crate in the foster's home...Eric scared the foster into thinking this wasn't safe containment and that Nicala would kill herself trying to get free, so she decided to lock the dog in a room instead. Well, after tearing down one door and destroying the foster's kitchen (broken cabinets and diswasher ) Nicala got to her cat and killed it. This WAS NOT the dog's fault and this was NOT the foster's fault...the one person that has to live with the death of this cat is Eric, for desperately placing a dog in a home that was NOT informed, and was NOT prepared.

Other dogs got dumped in foster homes with worms. Titan was another...he was underweight (the shelter he came from CONFIRMED that he was hearty and healthy when he left on a few months prior) The foster needed to vet him b/c he was constantly getting sick in her home - pooping his crate, and Eric refused to cover the expense and berrated the foster for vetting the dog.

Also, many dogs weren't so lucky to go to foster homes. He dumped them back into the shelters that they came from. Louie, a Katrina dog, was returned to a shelter in NJ along with Diva, a puppy. Chi Chi, a dog that he only took in b/c of monetary compensation was given back to her original rescuer.

None of his current staff, with the exception of two people, were around for any of this. They claim to have gone into his basement and say that it is clean. After the foster dump, he cleaned out the basement and has started fresh. I don't care what they think they have seen, they don't know anything about what happened then, and I don't care if he made some good placements recently...it doesn't make up for all the dogs that have died, gotten sick or dumped while in his care.

Yes, there have been some successful adoptions out of that place, but many of the puppies leave with mange or worms b/c he does his own vetting. He doesn't have a steady vet, but jumps from place to place looking for the best deal he can find. I think it says a lot that he cannot build a relationship with one or two offices.

He needs to quit rescue b/c he's making it harder for the reputable rescues out there to do their job.

I was invited here by LMM to clarify some of the points of this message.

I am not using my own name personally, because quite honestly, I am not alone inthis, and I was NOT the one solely responsible for the transmittence of the message. There were many others involved and they deserve just as much credit for the fight.

That being said....I am prepared to and will only answer questions that I have absolute knowledge of. I won't speculate or guess.

I was a moderator on the forum for about 8 months. During those 8 months, I saw a lot. Not at first, but over time. I never wanted to point the finger without proof and that didn't come until the end.They can say that they banned me, which they did. Nicole was banned for speaking her mind and when I defended her, I was pushed. I was banned after the foster dump in December after I posted my final thoughts.Since then, I have tried to work with investigators and others to stop what goes on there.

I will not make personal attacks, as for me, this is about the dogs. SO if you have anything you want clarified and I am able, I will.

SBRN wrote:I was a moderator on the forum for about 8 months. During those 8 months, I saw a lot. Not at first, but over time. I never wanted to point the finger without proof and that didn't come until the end.

Please expand on the "a lot" and give us the proof that you found at "the end".

I was banned after the foster dump in December after I posted my final thoughts.

What exactly happened in this foster dump? How many dogs involved, where they went, etc?

thank you all for opening this forum to reason.

You're welcome. For me, it's not about the people, either. It's always been about the dogs.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

I started as a mod in....late april early may. I heard mucho f the hoopla and didn't pay any attention to it at first as it was moreso gossip. Plus, I hadn't seen much in the way of proof.

Around August/September, I really began to question the money and where it was all going because there was a ''tag sale'' in CT that the person donated all of the proceeds to SPBR. It was over $4,000.There were litters to be vetted and folks to be paid back, Stacey for example. She had fostered Scout and there were vet bills that she fronted. He owed her hundreds. Not sure how that eventually played out but he said he paid her. Then weeks later, he said he needed to. There was just no money and he just got the $4,000.

I had pretty much come to terms that I would not assume and needed proof about the money. Then, in September, Sparkles litter was finally cut in half with the last one dying towards the end of the month. I was at his house that day b/c I was picking up some of Oma's. I stayed outside with a friend of his who had Sparkles on leash. That poor dog was as timid as they could get. Even with a slow approach and kind genstures, she ran to hide. She was filthy and her hair was spotted and she was thin. I looked inside the house to see Eric picking up the last pup that died. It was almost 8 weeks old and he has his hand wrapped around his entire torso. The pup was tiny, too tiny for it's age. He asked me to go get a heating blanket and I drove to the store with my kids. We returned with it and I found out later that night, the pup died.

I was more disgusted and a couple of us decided that we needed to find good homes for all the dogs and take off.

This didn't happen b/c he kept taking dogs in. The foster dump occurred in December. He was turned into the SPCA in Nov. The showed up at his house one night and he refused them entry. He went into panic mode and rushed all of the dogs out.

He rented a truck and drove across state, dumping them from here to CT. He came to my house the Monday he returned to bring me Lady. She was scared of everyone and extremely thin. He told me that she was okay with cats. In the first week she was with me, she went after 3 of mine aggressively. I called the shelter. They said they told him NO cats. I told him she had to go to another home and was doubted for my assessment. I was also hacked b/c I was taking up for Nicole after she left. Eventually it came to Jaime and Kelly coming at me telling me to step down. I wrote a final post calling them all out on everything and was promptly banned.

I reflected on Lady and her situation. I decided that he would not get her back and that we would do the best we could until we found her a home. We worked VERY hard on her issue with cats. She bagan to come around to us, but would still not go near my husband, or any man. It took 2 weeks before she walked near my husband. Eric brought her in for a spay, which she didn't need b/c he had paid to have her spayed in AR. She had the unnecessary surgery, but they found the microf.He was told she needed to have a final treatment and he never took her.When this was hashed out, we took her to be treated. She also had hookworm. She has since been adopted to a wonderful home, with a cat.

IN Eric's home when the SPCA showed up that day were the following dogs... I will list where they went if I know... and where they are now.

Tricky-- foster with Joe-- now adoptedLady-- foster with me-- now adoptedFreckles-- went to CT on his dump trip and was lucky to be adopted by Kelly's friend.Sparkles-- dumped last minute on Kelly. Then to another foster.Dottie-- went to foster with Alissa-- now adoptedThor-- his dog, still livingPrecious-- his dog, still livingElvis-- his dog, still livingLox-- unsure of history or future. Has a bite history, more than once. back with Eric.Chi-Chi-- said to have a bite history. returned to shelter/resucer that sent her to himDiva (chunka)-- sent to a shelter in NJDelilah (Kaos)-- said to have gone to a local 'friend' for foster. Now with one of the mods.Titan (black and white)-- fostered by forum member Jamie. Dumped with her when she was banned. Since adopted.Daisy-- his dog, still livingBoots-- quickly adopted under the table to a good family in NYLouie-- dumped with Diva in the same sheltered. Terrible condition. Nicala-- she came to him from the vet after killing a cat. They fully vetted her and gave her to him. In the rush, eric sent her to Mel's house, with two other dogs and a cat. He did NOT disclose to her that she had killed a cat. Nicala was okay for a few days. They pushed Mel to adopt her. I told them it was a bad idea and should never be allowed no matter what Mel says. I was shot down. Mel stated that Nicala was breaking out of her crate. Eric said that she shouldn't be put in a crate b/c she could strangle herself trying to get out. They told her to hang in there and the rescue would give her a different crate to use. The following day, the put Nicala in a secure room. When her husband got home from work, the house was in shamble and Nicala had killed their cat.I have a sworn statement by Mel as to the events before and after this. She was faulted for this, and banned. No apology issued.

Spud had cancer, and he had a tumor removed in September. It was the size of a grapefruit in his groin area.To the best of my knowledge, he died in early October. Eric never said a word to anyone. When I hear this through his friends, I mentioned it in my final post. Several people asked him about Spud and he denied that he was dead, staunchly.He still does not acknowledge his death. I did receive confirmation of his death last night in an email from one of Eric's current mods.